Matthew 2:11
And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him; gold, frankincense and myrrh.
Our brains and minds are forever etched with images such as the ones seen above in a Christmas scene.
Lambs....
Camels....
Wise men...
Shepherds...
Mary and Joseph...
And of course......the Baby Jesus.
Everything so neat and orderly.
So clean and pristine.
We want the perfect setting and the perfect arrangement of our own Christmas images.
Do you think maybe the place that Jesus was born in reeked of urine and dung?
Do you think maybe those involved in this divine play were unkempt and dirty from traveling?
I think that sometimes when our minds turn to Christmas, we want to portray this whole event in a way that doesn't remind us of why Jesus really was born.
He came to die....
Simple as that.
But His death would be unlike any other.
His would be a voluntary death, in obedience to His Father's plan for humanity.
His death would be a payment for a debt that mankind could never pay.
Sin, or the heart and mindset of living outside the will of God, demands a payment.
That payment is death......
But in this death, all connection with God is broken. The individual is forever in a state of separation from God. The place this occurs is referred to as hell. There are several different opinions as to what hell truly is...a place of torment and anguish. A place of eternal fire and misery.....it doesn't matter, because our finite minds cannot comprehend an eternity of pain, misery and, as the Bible puts it.....outer darkness where there is weeping, wailing and the gnashing of teeth. Sounds wonderful doesn't it.
Back to the Christmas card Jesus....
Strip away the everything from the story...
Shepherds...
Sheep...
Wise men and inn keepers....
The birth of Christ was a real event. It took place. There was such hatred among the political rulers of that day that when news of it reached the palace of Herod, he took action.
We love the Baby Jesus....
But at His birth, the forces of evil that rule behind the scene, took flight and mother's all across that region had their own infants and toddlers snatched from their arms.....
Snatched from their arms and put to the sword.
You see, the birth of this Son of God was so threatening to the kingdom of Satan that he would stop at nothing to see Him destroyed.
You won't see this on many Christmas cards, will you?
But it was all part of the story.
All part of the event we celebrate, as the Birth of Christ.
From the moment of His birth until Jesus cried out "It is finished" from the cross, He was surrounded by pain and suffering. Scripture says that "He has come to save that which was lost." To take back from the rule and bondage of the devil and his minions those souls which labor and suffer under the weight of sin.
For the wages, or that which you rightfully earn because of your work, is death.
Not just a physical dying....
We are all headed to that event.
But death becomes the final act on this side of eternity that cements every decision you make while you are alive. Once you die and make that transition to eternity itself, you have sealed your own personal fate by either receiving or rejecting Jesus' offer of eternal life.
So to me, Christmas is more than brightly lit trees....
And packages and gifts that are to be opened on Dec. 25th...
Christmas is the gift of real life from God to us.
Like all packages, you can only do one of two things...
Receive it....
Or
Reject it........
Which will you do?
Merry Christmas from the "B's" in Attalla.
God on you...
mb
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